Edited BY
G P Kennedy
Peace - Lagos, Nigeria
"Man is made up of spiritual and physical elements. At the same time, he has essential qualities that should make him desire to be in tandem with God, a spiritual entity. He strives for self-mastery and an awareness of himself. This self-mastery, to man, is most primary foundation for his existence which helps him to ask certain vital questions necessary for human existence and moral virtuousness: Who am I? From whence am I? What am I here for? Whither goal from? What is my place in the cosmic eternal scheme of things? What is life? What is death?"
Emmanuel O. Osigwe Anyiam-Osigwe, my Father
This week was a bit gloomy as another prominent politician died in Nigeria from the Coronavirus, One of my “sons “ Babajide has been his Special adviser for social Media for the past 6 years, Senator Ajimobi was a jolly good fellow, He was Governor of Oyo state till last year, but he died in a hospital in Lagos as his as his case need special medical attention one wonders why in his 8 years as Governor he did not build a state of the art hospital in his state. Most of the Governors who have become sick have had to be transferred out to Abuja or Lagos for treatment. Will they do something about the health care system in their states one wonders?
Abiola Ajimobe, lost to COVID-10
I had to reach out again to console Babajide, wasn’t really in the mood after the last couple of deaths that I have had to deal with I seem all cried out Coronavirus has been quietly killing a lot of people without many even realizing that they have the virus, a lot of people are mistaking it for Malaria as it has some similar symptoms.
The government is threatening another lock down as many people are not taking the protocols seriously, too many deaths then my senior Cousin died as well, so you get this feeling that the hospitals are getting overwhelmed as they are not prepared for the issues arising from this virus as well as dealing with the other health issues such as BP , Diabetes, Kidney failure, cancer , malaria and Typhoid.
The protocols seem simple enough but in Africa clean water is a major issue so many homes are with out with clean running water, families have to make special arrangements to fetch water from streams or public boreholes, most families in the middle class have to build boreholes for themselves.
The United Nations believes that that Sub-Saharan Africa alone loses over “40 billion hours per year collecting water; that's the same as a whole year's worth of labor by France's entire workforce!” You can imagine what can be done more constructively if the water situation was taken care of, poverty might be less on the continent, and the spread of diseases such as COVID19 would be slow to spread, it would also improve the economy of the continent the World Health Organization “has shown this in economic terms: for every $1 invested in water and sanitation, there is an economic return of between $3 and $34!” so you see how little can yield much in Africa, you begin to wonder what the leaders of Africa have been doing with its wealth except enriching themselves .
Whilst praying that Africa does not fall into the worst situation with Coronavirus and people dropping dead doesn’t become our reality. I realized that the Mask up Africa project was a bigger project than I had imagined, making people extremely aware about the need to wear masks to help slow the spread, you also have to look at the water situation in most communities, the hardest of this protocols to fulfill is the social distancing one, people live in shanty towns, slums etc. and affordable housing is a far dream from the basic survival needs of the average African.
Wear a mask!
The government has this week implemented a task force to make people to wear masks and social distance, so as to slow the spread, the head of the Presidential task force had his way we would be on a lock down, but is this really feasible in a real situation where people are even unable to get money to eat, people losing jobs. My Industry has been terribly impacted by COVID19 over NGN 15 billion in loss - approximately over USD 39 million - for our cinema circuit.
This does not include the whole eco system of entertainment in Nigeria, such as weddings, designers, event planners live bands, musicians, make up artists and other people in the value chain it has really hit us very hard that’s why its vital we flatten the curve, our job in the creative realm needs us to work in teams, and the human connection and vibing is essential, all this virtual things are nice but lets be honest don’t you miss hanging out at the bar with friends , having a chat, I miss breakfast at Orchid Bistro with my nieces on Sunday after church ,or just having meetings with people.
Africans are people who like to hug each other, The Lagos State Government constituted a committee to look at the implications of COVID19 on the Culture and Tourism industry in the state, I was appointed, into this committee with three other industry practitioners we have 5 weeks to come up with our report .
I haven’t even given my mum a real hug in ages as we don’t live together in the same house, I want my mum around for a long time so am not ready to risk anything concerning her, Dorothy is simply the center of my universe, I love my mum she will be surprised if she reads this as I bully her a lot, but I believe my Dad left me responsible for his most prized friend Mummy.
With dear Dorothy
I also wish I could just get on the plane and go somewhere away from Nigeria, I am normally very mobile, so this has been the longest period I have had to sit down in one place for so long, the minute I can travel I think I will disappear to Gambia to hang out with my Gambian family , I miss mummy cooking Domoda for me which is a peanut stew , Daddy making my salad, and forcing me to eat, I get to spend time with my brother Francis, who I have known for over 30 years.
Francis has a habit of resetting my brain when I need to talk, talking to Frankie on the phone is fine but when we hang out with our bottles of coke, across the long beaches of the Gambia, then we go visit our big brother who we fondly call Big Bro S, who will tell us how useless we really are, we will have dinner at some of the many open air restaurants in Gambia, and don’t forget my spa treatments…Corona just come and go.
Also my brothers Michael’s daughter Garcia graduated from high school last week. “Miss Diva” is forever telling everyone she cannot have her prom due to COVID, at least I did not have to go looking for the Prom dress, right now, but I assure you that she will make me get it eventually. It’s only Chioma left in high school my professional footballer/Basketball player had to get professional boots this week she has trials coming up.
Mikky is looking down from heaven so proud of his girls they are doing so well. LaLaKuthulia will also graduate from University this year.
Stay safe folks COVID is real but keep connected. Also build up on your spiritual connections to energize your environment with positive vibrations. The world needs healing…
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